Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Readers have their say about new monuments -- column of Aug. 6, 2015

By MARSHA
MERCER

A couple of
weeks ago, I wrote in this space about the opportunity cities and towns in the
South have as they weigh moving Confederate monuments from streets and parks to
museums.

If cities relocate
the statues, as I believe some will, they then can move on to consider new
monuments that reflect modern sensibilities. Surely, 150 years after the Civil
War we can think beyond the bronze hero on a horse and find other men – and
women – whose accomplishments and stories we want to pass to future
generations.

Traditionally
in this country we have memorialized presidents, generals and victims of disasters.
In the 21st century we can widen our horizons and honor the artists,
athletes, composers, entrepreneurs, explorers, scientists, writers and others who
have contributed to America’s rich cultural history.

I asked
readers to email me their answers to the question: To whom – or what – would
you like to see a monument in your community? Today I share your ideas.

This is
nothing close to a scientific sample, but several people who wrote me objected
to my guess that a year from now we’ll find more Confederate statues in museums
and fewer in streets and parks. They made it clear they want the Confederate
statues to stay right where they are, thank you.

“We are remembering our Confederate ancestors
who fought in a long and brutal war for a wide range of reasons – and not
necessarily for slavery,” a reader from Richmond, Va. , wrote.

He insisted that Confederate memorials are no more backward-looking
or divisive than memorials to black soldiers who fought for the Union.

“`Moving
on,’ as you recommend, should not mean taking down or hiding away all things
Confederate. Rather it should mean constructively adding to that national
memory and narrative – not destructively subtracting from it,” he said.

Another reader
wrote: “I don’t want to change my American history. For better or worse, it is
what it is. You want to add to it, fine.”

Neither offered
any names for new monuments. One even defied me to find a leader “who doesn’t
lie to us every other day. Someone who cares about this country and not his
party. I cannot.”

Whoa. The last thing we need is a monument to a
living politician.

But my
correspondents raise an excellent point. Even if Confederate statues stay in
place, this is a good time to consider adding to the mix of outdoor memorials.

A supporter
of a proposed Fallen Heroes Monument in Richmond told me about a campaign by
local veterans to honor on Monument Avenue the collective sacrifice of Richmond’s
citizens in foreign wars.

While many other
communities have memorials commemorating the generations that have answered the
call to military service overseas, Richmond does not.

Most
Confederate monuments were paid originally by private funds. In our time, too,
individuals are stepping up to contribute.

For example,
in New York’s Central Park, there are 22 statues honoring men but not one
honors a woman. Instead, there are statues of fictional characters -- Alice in
Wonderland, Mother Goose, Juliet (with Romeo) and various nymphs and angels. A
fundraising campaign is underway to build a monument to Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and Susan B. Anthony, along with other pioneers of women’s rights.

Several
readers suggested a monument honoring Maggie L. Walker, the Virginia civil
rights activist and entrepreneur. Walker was the first African-American woman
to found and be president of a bank. Her childhood home in Richmond’s Jackson
Ward neighborhood is a National Historic Site operated by the National Park
Service.

Walker
deserves “a statue or some sort of memorial, if not on Monument Avenue, then in
a prominent place,” wrote one woman, who called the Confederate statues along
Richmond’s Monument Avenue “great examples of civic art of the times” they were
built.

“I don’t
want the city to spend any money removing them but if private groups want to do
this, I’d enjoy a discussion of this idea,” she said.

And she proposed
something we all may be able to agree on that could be done soon: Rename
Jefferson Davis Highway, as parts of U.S. Route 1 through the South are called.

“If another
name is needed, how about Reconciliation Highway?” she said. It’s a good
start.